Atlas stayed low. Bullets strayed in his direction, smacking into bark and tearing through tree branches.
“Wraith, go!” Rogue yelled, his order punching through the background noise of war.
“Incoming!” Wraith warned.
The sharp cling of metal on cement followed.
Atlas covered his head.
Kaboom!
The blast rocked the ground. Atlas’s shoulder banged into the concrete wall. His ears rang. He lifted his head as a cloud of smoke encased the pool area.
“Move in!” Rogue shouted.
Atlas leapt over the wall. His blood pressure hit overdrive, his senses firing. His gaze swept the scene as he ran toward the chaos.
Men screamed. Two were on the ground, their bodies mangled. A few others jumped in the pool to put out the flames licking their clothes.
Atlas locked his gaze on a huddle of bodies on the floor near the sliding door. The guards jumped up, pulled Rex to his feet, and ushered him into the house. “Target is inside! Repeat, target is inside!” he bellowed to his team.
“Secure him,” Rogue said.
A glance to his left showed Rogue and Wraith in battle. Gunfire blasted, and they ducked behind the cover of the cement wall.
He needed to head east for the driveway—Rex would try to escape as he had last time. Before he could turn in that direction, a guard rose from his fallen position. His eyes widened, and he pointed his rifle at Atlas’s chest.
Atlas pivoted, aiming for the cocksucker, knowing he was too late. A bullet clapped out behind him and took the shooter to the ground. Blood exploded from the guard’s head before the body hit the cement.
“Got your six.” Havoc’s voice boomed through the earpiece.
Atlas glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “I had him.” He nodded toward the east of the house. “Secure the vehicles.”
“Copy.”
They broke into a run along the length of the house. Atlas dodged a palm tree and rounded the corner right as the front door opened.
“Move, Kat! Goddammit. Only you would sit naked while we’re being attacked.” Rex’s voice carried as he ran out the door under the cover of two guards flanking them.
“Not so fast,” Havoc called, in a singsong voice.
The closest guard wheeled around, and his face met Havoc’s bullet before he could pull the trigger. The second guard ushered Rex and Kat toward the jeep.
Atlas took him out with a bullet through the head. Kat, now wearing a floral silk robe, let out an ear-piercing shriek. Rex yanked open the driver’s-side door, his rapid movement sending Kat to the ground. He flung the vehicle into reverse.
“Take out the tires!” Atlas shouted. He shot at the right and Havoc the left two. Rex’s vehicle careened over the front lawn and backed straight into a tree. Kat’s ridiculous screams filled his ears, but he leapt over her, rushed to the jeep, and flung open the door.
Rex damn near fell into his arms. Blood pooled from a wound on his head, likely from hitting the tree. Atlas seized his bicep, pulled him to the ground, and secured his hands behind his back.
“Rogue, target is secure,” he said calmly into the mic.
“Ma’am,” Havoc said. “No one’s here for you. Least not yet. Quit screaming.” But he secured her wrists with a zip tie, too.
“What’s your status?” Atlas asked his team.
Rogue, Wraith, and Reaper appeared at the corner of the house. Rogue had a cut above his brow, and blood ran down his face. Wraith walked between Rogue and Reaper, who each held an arm around his waist.
They leaned Wraith against the bumper of one of the vehicles not far from where Kat lay on the ground.
